Well, last night I did the last of my packing, and this morning the car was loaded. After work, I'm on the road progressing to Racine tonight, somewhere in western Nebraska Saturday and hitting the ANA HQ in Colorado Springs early afternoon on Sunday. I'll be traving with Joe, my fellow Mini-mint demonstrator.

We will be deomonstrating hand striking, screw press striking and having exhibits of artist clays, plasters, production dies and a process set showing various strikes and finishes.

See you there, and see what stuff I've brought!

George

Friday, June 26, 2009 2:41:06 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)    Comments [0]

At the KP office we have a vending company which has a change machine for our use. Most of the sandwich machines accept paper dollars and coins, but the change machine handles 5s, 10s and 20s.

Today one of our coworkers came over to proudly display one of the new indian nations reverse dollars.

So I then dashed out to the vending machine and loaded in my $20. to get one 1979 SBA, one 2000 SAC, and 18 presidents, 5 Van Burens, 4 Jackson and the reset comprizing 6 other designs.

Oh well.

George

Monday, June 22, 2009 7:52:53 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)    Comments [1]

The Patron Saint of Great Britain is St. George.

The highest honor is The Most Noble Order of the Garter. The sovereign is head of the order and in addition to members of the royal family, other royal heads of state, there are only an additional 24 companion members. If new members are to be appointed, the names are anounced on April 23rd. the feast day for St. George.

The emblem is a gold and enamel full round sculpture of St. George slaying the dragon, it hangs from a nice collar. In addition, there is a distinctive blue sash and badge. And a garter belt, worn on the left leg. The motto: Honi Soit Qui Mal Y Pense (Evil to him whom evil thinks).

Today they have a procession at Windsor Castle and a service. They wear the formal robes and plume hats.

The most recent member to be confered the honor was Prince William who was inducted in 2008. There are no new members this year.

Banknotes of Fiji and the Isle of Man which were in use in the early 1970s feature a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II wearing the regalia of the Order.

George

Monday, June 15, 2009 7:01:32 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)    Comments [0]

Somehow, with this being an election year at the American Numismatic Association as well as other issues going on, it seem ironic that the first name on the 2009 list of pre-approved tropical storm and hurricane names is Ana.

The listing has been generated by the National Hurricane Center since 1953. Female names were originally used, but since 1979, the alphabetical listing alternates between male and female names.

I'm hoping for few deaths and limitied damage.

George

Monday, June 15, 2009 2:14:02 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)    Comments [0]

Spink is offering on July 4 2009 in Singapore a public auction sale featuring the Bill Christensen Collection of coins and bank notes. The second part of the sale features stamps and postal covers.

It is a well presented catalog with extensive color illustrations. Many of the notes in the collection are Standard Catalog plate notes. Some new listings of specimens and color trials have been added to our data base because of this presentation.

George 

Saturday, June 13, 2009 3:19:14 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)    Comments [0]

The 2010 volumes of the Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 37th edition; and the Standard Catalog of World Coins, 2001-date, 4th edition are now available. Both include a DVD if the book pages.

Look over the offerings at shopnumismaster.com and see the bargans available.

George

Friday, June 12, 2009 8:51:49 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)    Comments [0]

As is often the case with art designed by committees, the final product is often not as good as it could have been.

One of the most widely distributed medals in the United States today are those for the presidential inauguration, and it is commissioned by the bi-partisian inauguration committee. The 2009 effort was designed by Marc Mellon, and struck at the Medalcraft Mint of Green Bay, Wis.

However, as medal firms compete for the honor of the commission, most firms hire a sculptor on speculation, often to do portraits of each canidate, with only one then proceeding into production past the November election date.

The firm of Medallic Art Company had commissioned Daniel Altshuler to sculpt their designs, which sadly (IMHO) were not accepted by the committee. The high relief profile portrait is very similar to an early FDR issue and a JFK issue. Nice and classic. Sadly, if I were to critique something, it would be the patina, or lack of one. A bit more darkening contrast with the high relief sculpt could only enhance the design.

Not wanting to see a good thing not see production, Daniel has provately produced 250 bronze examples in a 3 inch size. He is offering them for $154.50 postpaid to US addresses.

He can be contacted directly at: Daniel Altshuler, 50 Blackburn Center, Gloucester, MA 01930

Thursday, June 11, 2009 2:49:35 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)    Comments [0]

Well, the bi-annual election ballot for the president, vice-president and seven board of governor positions are out in the mails. My ballot was received in Iola on Saturday, and today it has been mailed back in its official envelope.

What I found interesting was reading the information blurbs which were provided to Numismatic News, and published in the June 9th issue on pages 36-38.

Remembering the speech class from high school days, I counted the number of uses of I and Me/My in the roughly 150-175 word entries.

The total counts (alphabetically) are:

For president: Finner - 2      -    Mishler 1

Vice-president: Hallenbeck - 7

Governor:

Ellis 8  - Boling 8 - Fanton 7 - Garrett 6 - Krause 0 - Herbert 4 - Martin 8 - Hollis 8  - Ostromecki 7 -  Palmer 14  - Rottinghaus  8 -  Swindling - 1 Turrini  10 - Wolka 4

Did this count infulence my selection?

Perhaps

George

Monday, June 01, 2009 10:27:00 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)    Comments [0]

The Bermuda Monetary Authority has released a new series of circulating currency. It is a dual commemorative for the 40th anniversary of the B.M.A. and the 400th anniversary of the settlement of Bermuda.

The notes are in a vertical format on both sides. The denominations are 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 dollars. The face of the note features native wildlife - a bluebird, blue marlin, blue angel fish, whistling frog, longtail bird and a red cardinal. The backs feature designs of historic landmarks on the island - Dockyard clock tower, Horseshoe Bay, Ship Deliverance and the Commissioner's House, Gibb's Hill Lighthouse and St. Mark's Church, St. Peter's Church and finally the House of Assembly.

The notes feature the OPTIKS security thread device.

They look like a very well designed set and should be very well received by the locals and the tourists alike.

George 

Friday, May 22, 2009 2:38:19 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)    Comments [0]